Banana wine is a

fruit wine Fruit wines are fermented alcoholic beverages made from a variety of base ingredients (other than grapes); they may also have additional flavors taken from fruits, flowers, and herbs. This definition is sometimes broadened to include any alcohol ...

made exclusively from

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

s. In Tanzania, banana wine is made commercially by fermenting peeled, mashed, ripe bananas and sugar. Water (to dilute the rather thick banana mash), wine

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom (biology), kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are est ...

and sugar is added to the "banana mash". The traditional processing of

banana beer Banana beer is an alcoholic beverage made from Ethanol fermentation, fermentation of mashed bananas. Commercial sorghum, Sorghum, millet or maize flour are added as a source of wild yeast. Etymology In Uganda, banana beer is known as ''mubisi'', ...

is different from that of commercial banana wine. For example, the process of making banana wine used by Banana Investment Ltd. is as follows: #Ripe bananas are peeled and put in plastic barrels filled with water. #The barrel contents are then pressed (mashed) and banana mash transferred to large metal pots and boiled for several hours, forming a base of

juice Juice is a drink made from the extraction or Cold-pressed juice, pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat ...

and pulp. #The boiled banana mash is strained and sugar added to the leftover juice and boiled again. #The boiled juice is left to cool. #Wine yeast is added to the cooled, sweetened banana juice and placed in plastic fermentation tanks for 15 to 20 days, depending on product. #The fermented liquid is diluted with sterilized water, bottled and then shipped for distribution. In commercial production,

Cavendish banana Cavendish bananas are the fruits of one of a number of banana cultivars belonging to the Cavendish subgroup of the List of banana cultivars#AAA Group, AAA banana cultivar group (triploid cultivars of ''Musa acuminata''). The same term is also use ...

s are used, while in informal production, a variety of

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s, including both cooking and beer

East African Highland bananas Matoke, locally also known as matooke, amatooke in Buganda (Central Uganda), ekitookye in southwestern Uganda, ekitooke in western Uganda, kamatore in Lugisu ( Eastern Uganda), ebitooke in northwestern Tanzania, igitoki in Rwanda, Burundi and by ...

, Thai banana, Gros Michel, and apple bananas are used. Commercially produced banana wine is a clear, slightly sparkling alcoholic beverage with a longer shelf-life than banana beer, which is spoiled easily and therefore not stored for long periods. Depending on the strain of yeast and amount of sugar added, the sweetness and alcohol level in the final product is variable. Production of banana wine is mostly at a small-scale level, though attempts have been made to bring it up to industrialized production, and there are commercial producers of banana wine (e.g. Arusha-based Banana Investment Ltd). Since the early 2000s, attempts have been made to expand banana wine production to other countries where the crop is prevalent. The

Philippine government The government of the Philippines () has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and democratic constitutional repub ...

has sought to expand a local banana wine industry, while India has produced both award-winning banana wines and research into expanding production.

References

External links

Banana winery at your doorstep – Arusha Times On The Web
{{Authority control Agriculture in Rwanda Banana drinks Central African Republic cuisine Fruit wines Rwandan cuisine